March 10, 2020
Today we are chatting about one of our FAVORITE topics to talk about in the world: PRODUCTIVITY. Finding ways to work smarter, not harder is the goal. Today on the show, Lindsey and Evie go over 5 ways to be more productive in your life and business. If you’re the kind of person who works sun up to sun down, has a million tabs open on your computer bouncing back and forth like a scatterbrained squirrel, and then you get to the end of the day and feel like you accomplished nothing… THIS EPISODE IS FOR YOU.
This is so effective to be more productive. When you have 5,000 tabs open and switchback and forth from task to task, you’ll inevitably be scatterbrained. This makes it so hard to focus on one thing deeply or intentionally. Batching work can solve so many of these problems.
Batch working is essentially taking one task that you do in your business (emailing, content creation, blogging) and designating an entire day to do that task. For example, Evie and Lindsey dedicate Mondays as podcast batch recording day. They don’t focus on anything else that day other than podcast work.
Batch working allows you to knock out a task in one fell swoop so you are able to give that task your full attention. Ultimately, you are able to work deeper and harder which will save you time in the long run.
Our brain only has so much capacity to focus and handle certain things. When we constantly have 20 million things going on in our head at once we aren’t actually being as productive as we could be. Our brain is constantly having to jump from one thing to the next, rather than being able to settle down and lock in to the one task at hand. The great thing about batch working is that not only are you shoving out all distractions out of your brain and giving full capacity and space to focus on one task, but you are usually able to do the task better and faster.
Often, when you think of “productive” you don’t usually think of sleep. But, these two go hand in hand. If you are running off of fumes, YOU ARE NOT GOING TO GO FAR. Fumes will only get you so far before the car starts sputtering out.
So many entrepreneurs glorify their lack of sleep to show how much they are “hustling”. This may work for a week, but you will burn out so fast.
Sleep is so vital to our productivity as well as our creativity. Some of the biggest CEO’s in the world are the biggest proponents of sleep. Bill Gates is a prime example of this. He used to pull all-nighters in the early days of Microsoft sometimes even pulling multiple in a row to finish a project. He was the king of “no sleep” and “hustle”. But, his tune has WILDLY changed. Gates now says he requires a full 7-8 hours every night and it’s a non negotiable for him. When asked about his old sleep routines he says, “I knew I wasn’t as sharp when I was operating mostly on caffeine and adrenaline, but I was obsessed with my work, and I felt that sleeping a lot was lazy. But now, I realize that my all-nighters, combined with almost never getting 8 hours of sleep, took a BIG toll.”
The productivity that you get from having a well rested brain and body is mind boggling. Not sleeping is not cool. If you wanna be productive, make it a top priority to get 7-9 hours every night.
A great way to wake up is to use the app, Sleep Cycle. It monitors your sleep and lets you know your REM cycle, your quality of sleep, and even slowly wakes you up at a shallow point of your REM cycle.
If you are in a season of motherhood, and you are not able to get 7-9 hours of sleep, you are not a failure. You are not unproductive. Just get as much sleep as you can. Find the balance that works best for you. Know that the season you are in will not last forever.
Naps can be an incredible tool to help you get more rest. Naps are just as viable as that full night’s sleep. If you need to take a nap, take a nap. Sometimes this is the most productive thing you can do.
Studies have shown that creating routines and habits in our life sends our productivity through the ROOF! Begin to implement a schedule of when you start and stop work each day.
Have a very specific schedule for your day. For example: wake up at a certain time, work out, Jesus time, breakfast, sit down to work at 8am, breaks, end work, etc. Outline everything.
Creating routines and habits allows your mind to not waste time thinking “what’s next?!”. It allows your day to flow. Those rhythms will create space for you to accomplish way more.
Throughout your day, don’t forget how important your posture is! Whatever you do, do NOT lay down or slouch! Stand up and sit up. Your posture directly affects your brain. When you’re slouching or relaxing, your brain is shutting down. When you’re standing, your brain is telling your body to step it up and activate. Dedicate a work space in your home for work, and leave the couch and bed for rest. Make sure those spaces are separate.
This is all about lists. This is something you can start to implement and see changes REGARDLESS of your personality.
Create a to do list and weekly schedule every week before your work week starts. Sit down and make sure you know your schedule for the week. Know what the top priority things that need to get done that week are and make sure you assign yourself due dates.
Pay attention to due dates on things and tackle the hard things first. Don’t open up your inbox if there is something higher on the priority list. Do the big “move the needle” tasks before anything else.
We often want to focus on the smaller tasks because they are easier to check off our list. But, this is leaving the top priority tasks to the side. When you sit down every day and focus on the big tasks that will move the bottom line of your business and propel you forward, that is when you are going to see some serious productivity go on in your day.
Here are some apps and software that can help:
Swipes App, Monday, Trello, Asana, Wunderlist, iphone reminders, or even just paper and pen!
Find a system that works for you. It doesn’t have to be what everyone else uses. Find what works for you so you actually do it.
SAY NO. Say no to people pulling on your time if you are planning to batch work or tackle a hard project. Even if an opportunity is a good opportunity, you have to check in to see if it is growing someone else’s business or growing your own. We need to become way more comfortable with the word “no”. Be willing to say no when you would ideally like to say yes when you recognize that something is not your priority at that time. If it’s not 100% a heck yes, then it’s automatically a no.
Say no to distractions. Turn off your phone. Put it on airplane mode or even just put it in another room.
If you want to know more about saying no and finding those priorities, check out the book Essentialism.
Create rules for yourself in regards to work and rest. This also applies to batch working. Work for 60-90 min and then take a 10-15 min break. Set rhythms, rules, and routines for yourself. There are great ways you can do this through chrome plugins and apps on your phones.
Take a day off. Take a sabbath. Prioritize relaxation, rest, and fun. Set those boundaries to have fun so you can come back to your work refreshed and ready to be more productive. The reality is, if you work yourself into the ground, you are going to be tired, overworked, burnt out, and you aren’t getting as much done as you think. Being in the hustle mentality of not taking breaks or setting rules is not going to help your productivity. Taking those breaks, setting those rules and boundaries, and creating that space where your body, brain, mind, creativity, and productivity are able to blossom is going to be so vital for you to get more done in your days.
Being more productive is ultimately going to save you time, allowing you to work less, and live more. This is ultimately what we all want to do. Your job should not run your lives. It can not be your entire life. You were made for more than just working. Being able to find that balance and being super productive and being mega relaxed and enjoy that life. That balance needs to begin a vital part of everything you are working for in your business.
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WASSUP FRIENDS. We’re Evie + Lindsey, co-founders of this wild partayyy called The Heart University. Our goal is to empower entrepreneurs to kick freaking BUTT in their businesses, dive down into the heart of their why and how, and serve you with all possible tools you’ll need to up-level your business game and CRUSH those goals of yours.
Whether you’re coming to an in-person workshop, joining our online course, or soaking up all the strategies via this blog or our podcast, we’re STOKED you’re here + can’t wait to see you out there kicking butt.
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